the Agency

<<<about/contactartists/indexexhibitions/archive

 

 

_______________________________________________________________

Doris A.Day, The Barber of Seville, 2014, oil on canvas, 110 x 110 cm ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Doris A.Day, Foxy by Proxy, 2015, oil on canvas, 110 x 150 cm ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Doris A.Day, Felis Silvestris, 2015, oil on canvas, 170 x 200 cm ______________________________________________________________

 

 

 

___________________________________

“The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” 
Doris A. Day

_______________________________

The Agency is pleased to present the latest works of the British painter Doris A. Day.  In his latest body of works he continues to integrate symbols of the culture industry in his work, which often gain resonance through unpredictable juxtaposition, satire, re-contextualization, and even the very act of erasure. Just visible in all of his recent works is his favourite animated character - Bugs Bunny - originally created by Tex Avery and later Fritz Freleng and Chuck Jones, a feat of graphic ingenuity and a cultural icon as well as a stand-in self-portrait of the artist.

‘Bugs’ is an anarchic character, a fitting vehicle for the artist to push the boundaries of his medium in the post-digital age and imbue his works with a strong sense of humor and irreverence.  The cold-war comic hero Bugs Bunny today is recognized for his controversial duplicity.  The child-friendly popular icon also subliminally promoted the US Cold War agenda. Doris A. Day realizes the possibilities of incorporating moments of aggression, confusion and despair in his work without loosing the capacity to enjoy the process of painting. The resulting works are entertaining and challenging at the same time. Day is a confident technician and draughtsman. The paint is applied speedily, the character is sketched initially and then layers of paint are pulled across the canvas, leaving the work suspended between drawing and painterly abstraction.

Doris A. Day's paintings feature a plethora of references from British portrait painters such as Gainsborough and Lawrence to Gerhard Richter, George Condo and Christopher Wool. By acknowledging these artists as both influences and inspirations, he recognizes the historicity and development of painting in a post- capitalist society.  He confidently oscillates between styles without loosing a kind of stylistic authenticity, his artistic’ swagger’. Post-death-of-the-author a childhood nickname turned artist identity is a fitting tribute to his approach, whilst ‘Bugs’ becomes his alter-ego. With such a multiplicity of identities the artist’s hide-and-seek game is a commentary on the difficulty of navigating the self through the digital age.

Doris A. Day (* London, 1982) lives and works in London. Recent participations include Viennafair 2014,  “A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.” Doris A.Day, Kati Heck and Kostas Tsolis at the Agency 2014, Duchamp Festival, HerneBay (2013) , The Toolshed, Froome (2013, solo), Same Heads Gallery Berlin (2012), On/Off, Espace Commines Paris (2011). He was long-listed for the John Moores Prize 2014 and his work was highlighted in OffBlack Magazine Dec 2014.